Learning

I Don’t Believe in Defeat

IF YOU ARE thinking thoughts of defeat problem, I urge you to rid yourself of such thoughts, for as you think defeat you tend to get it. Adopt the “I don’t believe in defeat” attitude.

I want to tell you about some people who have put this philosophy into effect with excellent results and shall explain the techniques and formulas which they used so successfully. If you read these incidents carefully and thoughtfully and believe as they did and think positively and put these techniques into operation, you too, can overcome defeats which at the present moment may seem inevitable.

I hope you are not like an “obstacle man” of whom I was told. He was called an obstacle man because, regardless of whatever suggestion was advanced, his mind instantly went to all possible obstacles in connection with it, but he met his match and learned a lesson which helped to change his negative attitude. It came about in the following manner.

The directors of his firm had a project under consideration which involved considerable expense and some definite hazards as well as success possibilities. In the discussions regarding this venture the obstacle man would invariably say, and always with a scholarly air (invariably this type acts wise, probably a cover-up for inner doubt feelings), “Now just a moment. Let’s consider the obstacles involved.”

Another man, who said very little but who was respected by his associates for his ability and achievements and for a certain indomitable quality which characterized him, presently spoke up and asked, “Why do you constantly emphasize the obstacles in this proposition instead of the possibilities?”

“Because,” replied the obstacle man, “to be intelligent one must always be realistic, and it is a fact that there are certain definite obstacles in connection with this project. What attitude would you take toward these obstacles, may I ask?”

The other man unhesitatingly replied, “What attitude would I take toward these obstacles? Why, I would just remove them, that’s all, and then I would forget them.”

“But,” said the obstacle man, “that is easier said than done. You say you would remove them and then you would forget them. May I ask if you have any technique for removing obstacles and for forgetting them that the rest of us have never discovered?”

A slow smile came over the face of the other man as he said, “Son, I have spent my entire life removing obstacles and I never yet saw one that could not be removed provided you had enough faith and guts and were willing to work. Since you want to know how it’s done, I will show you.”

He then reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. Under the isinglass window was a card on which were written some words. He shoved the wallet across the table and said, “There, son, read that. That is my formula, and don’t give me the song and dance that it won’t work either. I know better from experience.”

The obstacle man picked up the wallet and with a strange look on his face read the words to himself.

“Read them out loud,” urged the owner of the wallet.

This is what he read in a slow, dubious voice, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

The owner of the wallet put it back in his pocket and said, “I have lived a long time and have faced a lot of difficulties in my time, but there is power in those words—actual power— and with them you can remove any obstacle.”

He said this with confidence and everybody knew he meant it. This positiveness, together with the facts of his experience which were known to all, for he was a remarkable man who had overcome many odds, and because of the further fact that he was not in any sense “holier than thou,” made his words convincing to the men around the table. At any rate, there was no more negative talk. The project was put into operation and, despite difficulties and risks, turned out successfully.

The technique used by this man is based on the primary fact about an obstacle which is—don’t be afraid of it. Practice believing that God is with you and that in combination with Him you have the power to handle it.

So the first thing to do about an obstacle is simply to stand up to it and not complain about it or whine under it but forthrightly attack it. Don’t go crawling through life on your hands and knees half-defeated. Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.

A friend in England sent me a book by Winston Churchill entitled Maxims and Reflections. In this book Churchill tells of the British General Tudor, who commanded a division of the British Fifth Army which faced the great German assault in March 1918. The odds were heavily against him, but General Tudor knew how to meet an apparently immovable and un-defeatable obstacle. His method was simple. He merely stood and let the obstacle break on him and he, in turn, broke the obstacle.

Use that formula which the businessman suggested and you will develop this brand of powerful faith in God and in yourself. You will learn to know yourself, your own ability, your power to do things. To the degree to which your attitude shifts from negative to positive the mastery touch will come to you. Then, with assurance, you can say to yourself under any and all circumstances and mean it, “I don’t believe in defeat.”

For example, a woman sent her fifteen-year-old son to us. She said she wanted him “straightened out.” It annoyed her to no end that her boy could never get over 70 in any of his studies. “This boy has a great mind potentially,” she declared proudly.

“How do you know he has a great mind?” I asked.

“Because he is my son,” she said. “I graduated from college magna cum laude”

The boy came in very glumly, so I asked, “What’s the matter, son?”

“I don’t know. My mother sent me to see you.”

“Well,” I commented, “You don’t seem to be burning with enthusiasm. Your mother says you get only 70’s.”

“Yes,” he said, “that’s all I get, and,” he added, “that isn’t the worst of it. I’ve even received less than that.”

“Do you think you have a good mind, son?” I asked.

My mother says I have. I don’t know—I think I’m awful dumb. Dr. Peale,” he said earnestly, “I study the stuff. At home I read it over once and then close the book and try to remember it. I repeat this process about three times, and then I think that if three times doesn’t get it into my head how am I ever going to get it into my head? And then I go to school thinking maybe I have it, and the teacher calls on me to say something, and I stand up and can’t remember a thing. Then,” he said, “examinations come along and I sit there and just get hot and cold all over and I can’t think of the answers. I don’t know why,” he continued. “I know that my mother was a great scholar. I guess I just haven’t got it in me.”

This negative thought pattern combined with the inferiority feeling stimulated by his mother’s attitude was of course overwhelming him. He froze up in his mind. His mother had never told him to go to school and study for the wonder and glory of learning knowledge. She was not wise enough to encourage him to compete with himself rather than with others. And she was constantly insisting that he duplicate her success in scholarship. Little wonder that under this pressure he froze mentally.

I gave him some suggestions that proved helpful. “Before you read your lessons, pause a moment and pray in this manner, ‘Lord, I know I have a good mind and that I can get my work.’ Then get yourself relaxed and read the book without strain. Imagine you are reading a story. Do not read it twice unless you wish. Simply believe that you got it on the first reading. Visualize the material as soaking in and germinating. Then next morning, as you go to school, say to yourself, ‘I have a wonderful mother. She is very pretty and sweet, but she must have been an old bookworm to get those high marks. And who wants to be an old bookworm anyway? I don’t want to become magna cum nothing. I only want to get through school creditably.’

“In class, when the teacher calls on you, quickly pray before answering. Then believe the Lord will at that moment help your mind to deliver. When an examination is given, affirm in prayer that God is releasing your mind and that the right answers are given you.”

The boy followed these ideas, and what marks do you think he got the following semester? Ninety! I am sure that this boy, having discovered the amazing work ability of the “I don’t believe in defeat philosophy,” will employ the amazing power of positive thinking in all the affairs of his life.

DEFEAT conclusion:

I could use so many illustrations of the manner in which men’s lives have been revamped by these procedures that this Article would grow to unwieldy size. Moreover, these are incidents and experiences out of everyday life that are in no way theoretical, but are entirely practical. My mail is literally filled with testimonials sent by people who, having heard or read accounts I have told of victorious life experiences, have felt moved to relate similar occurrences in their own lives.

As you finish this article please say the following line aloud: “I don’t believe in defeat.” Continue to affirm that until the idea dominates your subconscious attitudes.

The Wyck­off Method is one of the four time­less approaches to mar­ket analy­sis (the other three being Dow The­ory, Shabacker’s chart pat­terns, Elliott Wave The­ory and Gann’s swing trad­ing approach). It was devel­oped in the early part of the 20th Cen­tury and has been con­tin­u­ously refined through the present day. The Wyck­off Method is a vital, clas­sic approach to trad­ing which reads the mar­ket through price bars and vol­ume. Although tech­ni­cal indi­ca­tors may be used, they are unnec­es­sary under the Wyck­off Method.

Richard D. Wyck­off was a Wall Street bro­ker and trader in the early part of the 20th Cen­tury. Wyck­off was a bro­ker and wit­nessed the oper­a­tions of the largest traders of his day first hand as an ‘insider’ and learned to trans­late their activ­i­ties in the ticker tape and bar charts. As he watched traders and investors make poor trad­ing deci­sions based on rumor, opin­ion and guess­work, he wrote a newslet­ter that quickly became so widely read on Wall Street that it would often affect stock prices. He later wrote courses for traders and books on tape read­ing (includ­ing the first day trader’s man­ual) and his expe­ri­ences on the Street.

The Wyck­off Method has been used by astute traders for nearly 80 years. It is a com­plete method for under­stand­ing and trad­ing the mar­kets. It is used effec­tively by day traders, swing traders and investors in all mar­kets includ­ing equi­ties, com­modi­ties, index futures and FX with equal suc­cess. Many of today’s top mar­ket tech­ni­cians acknowl­edge Wyck­off as the basis for their under­stand­ing of the mar­kets, and the Method has spawned spin-offs such as VSA.

Dr. Gary Day­ton is an expert in the Wyck­off Method. He has stud­ied and applied Wyck­off for the past decade and has been men­tored by an acknowl­edged Wyck­off mas­ter. Dr. Gary is also an out­stand­ing edu­ca­tor of the Method who con­veys the Wyck­off Method and prin­ci­ples in a sim­ple and con­cise man­ner eas­ily under­stood by his students.

The two approaches to market timing—predictive and confirming—almost always give conflicting signals when analyzing movementsof the same time domain. That is okay because they are usedfor different purposes and have different goals. If contrary opinionsays that the market has reached bottom over the intermediateterm, the other approach—trending indicators for the intermediateterm—almost always indicates that the trend is still down.This is normal. Why? Because it is normal that investors becomevery bearish (furnishing us with buy signals using contrary opinion)as prices are plummeting and at their low. The large price dropmakes the trend indicators point down, but the predictive indicatorsare showing that the end of the decline has been reached andhigher prices are ahead.However, there are times when the two approaches do not giveconflicting signals, and these are very important to note. When predictiveindicators such as contrary opinion strongly indicate higherprices, and the confirming indicators have already confirmed thestart of a slight uptrend, that is the strongest buy signal there is.There is nothing more reliable or important than when this unusualsituation happens.Why is this so? It is expected that, as prices move up, more andmore investors will become bullish. When, however, the bearish sentimentstays high or even moves higher as prices also move higher,that is not expected, and so it is the sign of a very strong stock market.At these moments, what is happening is that no one believes theupward price movement is real or that it will last. This skepticism isthe fuel needed to keep the movement going, usually for some time.The same holds true when both categories of indicators are confirmingthat prices are declining. If contrary opinion is extremelybullish and stock prices have already started down, so much so thattrend-following indicators are confirming the downtrend, there is no more reliable or important sell indicator.

This is the Forth day of course in a series of 7 called ” Your financial goals”

Insurance helps you protect what matters most in your life — your loved ones, your assets and your financial future. Insurance takes on many forms, some of which do double-duty as tax-advantaged investment, accumulation or retirement income vehicles, or ways to shape your estate plan.

Do you have the right insurance now?

Assessing your current coverage involves some reflection and review, starting with these questions:

How might unexpected events impact your family’s goals?

How will you provide for dependents if you’re unable to earn income or if you’re gone?

How do you determine home insurance policy coverages and auto liability coverage limits?

Forms of protection

Your financial plan may include a variety of financial solutions, such as cash management strategies, investments and insurance. To protect yourself against unexpected costs or events such as job loss, it’s essential to maintain cash reserves that you can access quickly, without penalties or loss of value. In addition to cash reserves, you might want to consider the following types of insurance:

Life insurance. The two basic types of life insurance are term insurance and permanent insurance. Term policies protect you for a fixed amount of time. Lifetime, or permanent, policies are designed to protect you and your family for the long-term. You can choose from life insurance products and coverage that offer a variety of benefit and premium levels, opportunity to grow assets in a tax deferred manner and more.

Long-term care insurance. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 70% of Americans who reach age 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives. And more than 40% will need care in a nursing home.1 LTC insurance can help you protect your financial future and position you to give more to your loved ones.

Disability insurance. Without disability income insurance, a serious injury or illness could jeopardize your family’s income and lifestyle. Different policies offer varying benefit terms, coverage and definitions of disability.

Auto and home insurance. Make sure your coverage reflects the current value of your home and liability limits are appropriate for auto coverage with an annual review to protect your assets.

Other insurance considerations

A financial advisor can help you evaluate your current coverage needs. Together, you might consider:

When was the last time you reviewed your property and casualty coverage? Do you have the coverage you need?

Does umbrella coverage make sense for you?

What employee benefits are available to cover your insurance needs?

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Message for you(Trader/Investor): Google has the answers to most all of your questions, after exploring Google if you still have thoughts or questions my Email is open 24/7. Each week you will receive your Course Materials. You can print it and highlight for your life Goal.

This is the Third course in a series of 7 called ” Your financial goals”

It’s never too early to begin thinking about your legacy or to shape your estate plan. Contrary to what many people think, you don’t need to be a millionaire to have an estate plan. An estate plan is an important part of any ongoing financial planning process.

Your life, your dreams, your legacy

Your legacy transcends money — it also encompasses your values. Your wishes and dreams may include using your assets to help secure your family’s future or you may choose to support another cause close to your heart. This might be your favorite charity, your community, or your place of worship, to name a few.

Elements of an estate plan

A will lets you specify your wishes, including how you want your property distributed, who will administer your estate and who will care for your minor children.

A trust holds your assets for the benefit of one or more people (you, your spouse, your children). You’ll need an attorney’s assistance to create a trust.

Life insurance proceeds are paid to a beneficiary at your death.

Gifts are transfers of property made during your life to family, friends or charity.

Tax exclusions are available as important estate planning tools. Consult your tax professional for details.

Preparing to plan your estate

Designing a legacy consistent with your dreams and values is a personal, often complex process. But it’s well worth the effort. Consider setting up a family estate planning meeting to help improve communication, prevent conflicts and let your family know what’s important to you.

After giving some thought to your wishes, including the needs of family members you want to provide for, seek the professional guidance and estate planning advice you need from your attorney, tax professional and financial advisor. To help you value your estate, you’ll need to take into consideration:

Current income and likely future income

Annual expenses

Current assets and debts

Tax implications of federal transfer taxes, state death taxes and federal income taxes

Message for you(Trader/Investor): Google has the answers to most all of your questions, after exploring Google if you still have thoughts or questions my Email is open 24/7. Each week you will receive your Course Materials. You can print it and highlight for your life Goal.

This is the Third course in a series of 7 called ” Your financial goals”

A sound investment strategy is critical to helping your money grow and, ideally, outpace inflation. However, if you’re like many people, you may not have the time or the inclination to analyze how different investments or securities may fit into your portfolio and you may wonder whether you’re investing appropriately to meet your financial goals.

Clarify your investment goals

Before you invest your money, it’s important to identify and prioritize your financial goals, assess your risk tolerance and understand your investment options. A financial advisor can help you sort through your options and invest appropriately. Some questions to consider:

What needs and dreams are you saving for? Retirement, a home, education?

When will you need the money you plan to invest now?

What is your risk tolerance? Are you willing to invest in stocks that may rise and fall in value in the short term, but have the potential to deliver larger returns in the long run? Or would you feel better if your money was invested more conservatively?

Do you understand how different investment vehicles (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, etc.) work? And the potential tax advantages of each?

Understand investing options, such as investment types and accounts, to help you make decisions that are right for you.

Apply diversification. Invest in a variety of assets to distribute and reduce risk.

Allocate your funds. Spread your investments among different asset categories, including stocks, bonds, cash and real estate, a process known as asset allocation. This also helps dilute risk.

Monitor your progress. Revisit and re-allocate your portfolio regularly to make sure your investments are still aligned with your current needs and future goals.

Consider tax implications. Be aware of tax advantages as well as tax consequences so you can avoid paying unnecessary fees.

Message for you(Trader/Investor): Google has the answers to most all of your questions, after exploring Google if you still have thoughts or questions my Email is open 24/7. Each week you will receive your Course Materials. You can print it and highlight for your life Goal.